LETHBRIDGE, Alta. - Following an outstanding Day 1 of the 2022 Canada West Swimming Championship, Day 2 of this year's event hosted in Southern Alberta was nothing short of spectacular.
The Max Bell Aquatic Center was coming close to full capacity, when it also came alive for the night's finals that got underway just after 5:00PM local time.
Recognizing this year's graduating athletes set the tone for a night of spectacle, beginning with Olympian Rebecca Smith of the Calgary Dinos winning the night's first gold medal in the 50 Meter Freestyle. Rebecca came in with a time of 25.10, pacing her teammate Eliza Housman who scored her own impressive time of 25.78.
The Manitoba Bisons rounded out the podium with Dora Modcrin, who earned her 3
rd medal before the half way point of the Canada West Championship.
Moving over to the Men's 50 Freestyle, Daniel Boguski of the Calgary Dinos improved on his prelim time by 0.62 and took the gold medal. UBC Thunderbird Siu Lun Ho was on Boguski's tail through both lengths, but just couldn't find enough to overtake. Ho hit the wall with a 22.73 time, also narrowly beating Lethbridge Pronghorn Chris Alexander & Stephen Calkins who tied for the bronze with a time of 15.50.
Heading into the longer section of the finals – the 400 Meter IM, the British Columbia schools showed their endurance with the UBC Thunderbirds finishing 1
st & 2
nd, and the Victoria Vikes taking bronze. Camryn Stannard & Emma Spence led the Thunderbirds, while Erin Epp carried the Vikes logo.
On the Men's side, it was a sweep for the school to the north of Lethbridge, with the trio of Nathan Versluys, Charlie Skalenda, & Richie Stokes all dawning the Dino red on the podium. Versluys finished with a time of 4:17.35, while Skalenda & Stokes followed with a 4:19.23 & 4:20.48 respectively.
The Women's 100 Meter Butterfly followed the 400 Meter IM with the pacific schools continuing their momentum. Yasmin Perry from the University of Victoria took home the gold with a time of 59:00 flat, while two Thunderbirds were closely behind in
Josie Field and Sela Wist, they timed in a 1:00.36 & 1:01.05.
Thomas Mcdonald from the University of Calgary propelled himself to the gold medal on the men's side of the 100 Meter Butterfly. Mcdonald clocked a 52.58, beating his competitor Kei Ogilvie from the UBC Thunderbirds by 0.09. Ogilvie took home the silver, while his teammate Justice Migneault continued his impressive young Canada West career solidified the bronze, Migneault touched the wall at 53:17.
The Women's 200 Meter Backstroke saw the first medal of the night for the University of Albert Pandas with Kamryn Leslie taking home the bronze medal, while Calgary Dino Hannah Johnsen claimed silver; neither could catch the pace of Victoria Vike Lauren Crisp who stood atop the podium with a time of 2:09.88.
As the meet moved on throughout the evening, the battle between the Thunderbirds and Dinos for top place became a focal point. No moment summarized this better than the Men's 200 Meter Backstroke, which saw the UBC Thunderbirds duo of Blake Tierney & Hugh McNeill take home the Gold and Silver, McNeill topped Richie Stokes of the Calgary Dinos by 0.7 and a fantastic finishing meters.
For the hometown fans in Lethbridge, spectators at the Max Bell Aquatic Center were waiting in anticipation of the breastroke events that saw Ryenne Katterhagen, Hunter Stewardson, Apollo Hess, & Tristan Bennett all suit up for the Horns.
Katterhagen fell just shy of the podium in the women's 100 meter, that saw Eloise Allen & Alicia L'Archeveque from the UBC Thunderbirds take the gold and silver, while Sophie Tarrant of the Victoria Vikes grabbed the bronze.
And in what would be described as the loudest moment of the evening, Apollo Hess of the Lethbridge Pronghorns entered the pool as the favorite to take the 100 meter Men's side. Hess did not disappoint the hometown fans as he swam to a time of 58.55, almost 2 seconds faster than silver medalist Justice Migneault.
Brayden Hemeon joined his fellow Thunderbird teammate on the podium.
Of current swimmers competing in the Canada West conference, Apollo Hess now holds the most records of any active participant, in just his second year of eligibility.
Not to be outdone, Olympian Rebecca Smith immediately followed Hess's performance with a dominate display in the 200 Meter Freestyle event, clocking a time of 1:54.97, almost 4 seconds ahead of the second place Emma O'Croinin of the UBC Thunderbirds.
Anna Dumont-Belanger rounded out the podium with a time of 1:59.84.
In what was the final race of the individual events, the hometown crowd in Lethbridge was treated to an outstanding performance. Seeded 4
th heading into the final, Lethbridge's Raine Arden came out of the gate flying to an early lead. Arden continued to outpace the competition until the 150 meter mark when the gap started to close; however, Arden dug deep and was able to push all the way through to a surprising gold medal. Arden's time clocked in at 1:48.42, while the duo of Dinos in Paul McKenzie & Nathan Versluys finished 2
nd and 3
rd on the podium.
Closing the night out with the 400 Meter Freestyle relay, the University of Calgary put on a dominant performance, winning both the Women's & Men's gold medal. And as fitting as sport can be, the UBC Thunderbirds chased their challenges to a silver medal in both races. The Victoria Vikes rounded out the podium on the women's side, while the hometown Lethbridge Pronghorns took home the bronze.
Heading into the final day on Sunday, spectators in Lethbridge are surely in for a treat; here are the standings:
Men's:
- Calgary Dinos – 595.5
- UBC Thunderbirds – 528
- Lethbridge Pronghorns – 260.5
- Victoria Vikes – 211
- Alberta Golden Bears – 204
- Regina Cougars – 121
- Manitoba Bisons – 53
- Thompson Rivers – 2
Women's:
- UBC Thunderbirds – 590
- Calgary Dinos – 493.5
- Victoria Vikes – 339.5
- Manitoba Bisons – 183.5
- Alberta Pandas - 161
- Lethbridge Pronghorns – 140.5
- Regina Cougars – 69
Catch the final day's action starting at 8:00 a.m. PT. on Sunday.
